


Bedtime Story

by astudyinfic



Series: Blood is Thicker Than Water [4]
Category: Skyfall (2012) - Fandom
Genre: 00Q - Freeform, M/M, Pure Unadulterated Fluff, the story of how they met
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-14
Updated: 2015-03-14
Packaged: 2018-03-17 20:11:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3542321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astudyinfic/pseuds/astudyinfic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Q helps the twins with math while James reads Abby a bedtime story.  This arrangement worked well until one day, Abby's normal story wasn't good enough, forcing the double oh to think on his feet and tell the greatest fairy tale he had ever known.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bedtime Story

While Q helped the twins with their homework each night, it was James’ responsibility to put their baby girl to bed.  Q found that he would much rather focus on primary math that handle one more night of “Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see,” while James would much rather go face off with terrorists once more than try to struggle through the multiplication of fractions.  It worked out well for them, and the children were happier with that arrangement, Charley and Harry enjoyed Q’s methods for doing their math and Abby preferred James’ voices that he did for all of her favourite stories.  Nights in their home were peaceful in a way that the rest of their lives rarely were.

The twins completed their homework quickly and as a reward, Q let him play games on his computers.  As sounds of racing cars and cheering children filled his office, Q tiptoed down the hall to listen to the story James was in the middle of telling Abby.  However, instead of the dulcet tones of his spouse reading to their young daughter, Q found a screeching child and a former double oh doing his best to calm her down.  “Abs, sweetheart, you always want Brown Bear at bedtime.”

“But Dad-DY, I want something NEW!”  Q peeked around the corner to see a pile of books next to Bond’s feet as he held up book after book.  “We have read all of those!  New story, Daddy!  NEW STORY!”

Abigail hadn’t seen her Papa standing there but James did and he smiled the small grin that was just for his husband as he settled back against the pillows, Abigail resting on his chest.  “How about I tell you a story that isn’t in a book, instead, one that very few people know?  It is a very important story so you will have to be very quiet and listen carefully.”  The little girl nodded her head and pulled the plush wolf who was her closest companion to lay with her on her daddy’s chest.

“Many years ago, there was a man who was very strong and very fast but also very sad.  He had no one who loved him, no one who cared about him.”  As he spoke, James’ eyes traveled to meet Q’, who smiled softly in return, already seeing where this was going.  “This man had a woman who looked out for him, who did what she could to make sure he was safe but in the end he was expendable, even to her.”

“What does ex-pen-da-ble mean Daddy?” Abby yawned, eyes fighting already to stay open.

James smiled and kissed the top of her head, inhaling the smell of her lavender shampoo and the sweets she had after supper.  “It means replaceable.  They could have found another person to step in if something her to happen to the lonely man.”

“What was his name, Daddy?”

“It was James, love.”

“Just like yours!”

“Yes, just like mine.  Now Abigail, are you going to keep asking questions or do you want to hear the story?”

“Sorry, Daddy.”

Both Q and James chuckled, eyes meeting once more before James continued with his tale.  “Now, James lived a dangerous life and he did not think he would live long enough to find someone who loved him.  It came very close when one day a friend shot him in the heart.”  Abigail opened her mouth to ask another question but closed it with a snap.  “Yes, Abs,” he grinned, “she was a friend who shot him.  She didn’t mean to, it was an accident.  Anyway, James almost died and in fact, everyone thought he was dead.  For a long time he hid, found a place to live where he could just forget about everything that had ever happened and wait until his life ended, alone and forgotten like he had always been.”

Q left the room, deciding to go check on the twins during the part of the story he hated the most.  The explosion at MI6 brought James into his life but it also left him reeling.  The former Q was one of the men killed and the current Q had been injured.  It still haunted his nightmares from time to time and while James wasn’t there, just hearing his husband’s side of it was too much for Q to handle.  Seeing Charley and Harry were just fine, he returned to the doorway just in time to hear James say, “And when he entered the museum, James saw a boffin sitting there, looking like he was about your age Princess Abigail, and staring at a painting of a boat.”

“What a boffin?”

“Papa, love.  Papa is a boffin.” Q chuckled lightly in the hall, amusement lighting up James’ eyes as he met Q’s gaze.

“Oh.  OK.”

“The boffin made a comment about the painting being sad and James tried to walk away, not wanting to discuss boats with someone he had never met.  However, it turned out the young man was waiting for James, that he had something for him.  They bickered; James insulted the boffin’s skin and the boffin called James old.”

“Did not!” came a soft voice from the hallway.  Q entered the room, sitting on the bed next to James, looking at their perfect daughter.  “The boffin merely commented on a painting and James took it the wrong way.  But in the end, the two grew close, learning to trust each other, even when they knew it could end in disaster.”  Abigail was nearly asleep at this point, eyes drifting closed despite her best efforts to keep them open.  Q turned his attention to James, continuing the story in hushed tones, not wanting to disturb the little girl.  “And eventually the boffin realized that the person who had been there all along, the man he trusted with his country, his equipment, and his intel, also could be trusted with his heart.”

James would deny for the rest of their lives that he teared up at that comment - he didn’t even cry at their wedding - but his eyes shone with the unshed tears when he leaned in to give Q a soft kiss.  “After years of running, of avoiding anything that might cause him to feel, James realized the boffin had opened him up, taken him apart and put him back together without James ever knowing what was happening.  One morning he opened his eyes and knew that if everything ended that day, as long as he could see the boffin one last time, it would all be worth it.”

The soft sounds of their daughter’s snores filled the room as the two men looked at each other, continuing the story for their own sake instead of for Abigail’s.  “One day, the boffin got down on one knee in front of a hospital bed where James lay bruised and battered.  The boffin asked James to marry him and held his breath, afraid everyone in the building could hear his heart threatening to beat out of his chest.  But eventually James’ black and blue face cracked a smile and his eyes lit with the truest form of happiness the boffin had ever seen.  He said yes and the boffin tackled him, arms wrapped around his lover’s shoulders, only realizing his mistake when James’ grimaced at the battering to his already broken ribs.”

“But James’ knew the pain was worth it,” James continued, “because he had just been given a gift he thought only granted to other people.  A chance for a life of happiness and love, a life worth coming back for time and time again.  The boffin had turned his world upside down and James knew in that moment, he would do everything he could to see that sly smile on his love’s face every day for as long as they both shall live.”

“The two married in a secret ceremony, witnessed by two people from the street who knew nothing of them or their occupations.  Neither had family and neither wanted to risk this newfound love in the face of their challenging careers.  Eventually they were graced with two little princes and a princess who changed everything and yet seemed as inevitable as the seasons.  Neither James nor the boffin could believe their luck at having a perfect family and a love worthy of a fairy tale.”

When Q finished the story, Abigail rolled over, placing one tiny hand on James’ knee and mumbling in a sleepy voice, “Then what happened?”

James looked at Abby, then up at Q who leaned in to give him a soft kiss.  James finished the story, his eyes locked on that of his husband while the sound of their boys playing games reached their ears from the other room, “And then, Princess Abigail, they lived happily ever after.”

 


End file.
